


She's the Reason for the Rules

by RavenclawPianist



Series: No You Can't Feed the Tigers [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Gen, Total Fluff, indra is so cool, zoo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 07:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6558073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawPianist/pseuds/RavenclawPianist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Her and Kane are best friends, basically,” Raven added. “So she comes here every couple of months to visit.”</p><p>“Octavia wants to be her when she grows up,” Lincoln said with a grin. “That should give you some kind of idea what Indra’s like.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	She's the Reason for the Rules

**Author's Note:**

> I'm basing this version of Indra off a woman who actually does work at the zoo and some of the crazy things that used to happen (apparently. I'm not completely convinced she isn't just seeing how gullible I am)

“Okay, I would understand having it as part of dinner,” Raven said. “But green beans and parmesan as a snack?” 

“It’s good!” Lincoln argued. “Healthier than those chips you’re always eating.”

Clarke rolled her eyes at her friends. She watched from their picnic table as a strong looking dark-skinned woman went into the animal care building. “Hey, stop arguing about eating habits for a second. Did we hire a new zookeeper?”

Lincoln shook his head as Raven turned to look in the direction of the building. “Not that I know of,” Lincoln said. “We do still have the opening from when Anya left, but I don’t think it’s been filled.”

“What did they look like?” Raven asked, turning back to the table and opening a bag of Doritos.

Clarke shrugged. “Medium height, super short hair, dark skin, looked like she could take on a tiger and win.”

Raven grinned. “Oh, that’s Indra.”

“She used to work here years ago,” Lincoln explained. “Last I heard now she’s working at one of the high schools over in Polis.”

“What does she teach?” Clarke asked.

“Health,” Lincoln said. “Poor kids. I’d hate to get the sex talk from Indra.”

Raven started choking briefly. “Oh god. They’re probably scarred for life. I mean, worse than they otherwise would be.”

“Indra’s a blunt person,” Lincoln explained. “She’s not afraid to say things that other people would consider inappropriate.”

“Her and Kane are best friends, basically,” Raven added. “So she comes here every couple of months to visit.”

“Octavia wants to be her when she grows up,” Lincoln said with a grin. “That should give you some kind of idea what Indra’s like.”

Clarke nodded, watching Indra and Kane leave the animal care building and go down the path towards the wolves and big cats. She gathered up her lunch and nodded to her friends. “I should be getting back to the office. I have a tour scheduled for one-thirty.”

 

After her tour, Clarke stopped by the cougar enclosure. Bellamy had been scheduled to work with the big cats that day and she planned to check if they were still on for dinner. Instead she found him standing with Kane and Indra in between the cougar and tiger enclosures, chatting. 

“Yeah, Cassie is still doing alright. Honestly, she sleeps most of the day anymore,” Bellamy said before glancing over and grinning at Clarke. “Hey, Clarke! Come meet Indra!”

Clarke moved over next to Bellamy, offering a hand to Indra. “Hi, I’m Clarke. Nice to meet you.”

Indra shook her hand, grip strong and calluses rough on her palm. “Indra. You new here?”

“In the last few months,” Clarke confirmed. “I work in Guest Services.”

Indra nodded before turning back to Bellamy. “Glad to hear Cassie’s doing well. I used to swim with her. We have a bond.”

“Wait,” Clarke interrupted. “You used to swim with the tigers?”

Indra shrugged casually. “It was years ago. Before the zoo was so obsessed with rules.”

“Safety,” Kane corrected. “Obsessed with safety. Dante never should have let us in with the tigers.”

“Oh come on,” Indra laughed. “You would take nap breaks in the fox enclosure! I still have some pictures of you in there with them all draped over you like housecats.”

“Foxes aren’t as dangerous as tigers,” Kane argued. “And even that was irresponsible.”

“The zoo used to be a lot more carefree,” Indra told Clarke. 

“Reckless,” Kane said. “It used to be a lot more reckless.”

“Indra used to ride a horse behind the train,” Bellamy said. “Sometimes she’d have a sword and yell at the kids. She made a few of them cry.”

“Including Jasper,” Indra smirked. “I remember the first time I saw him working here. I thought he’d pass out when he saw me. Pity he didn’t, that would have been funny.”

“You rode a horse after the train?” Clarke repeated. “And swam with tigers? Are you serious?” She looked back and forth between the three people. 

Indra shrugged. “It was a different time. Shame the new rules are in effect. I’d love to take another dip with Cassie.”

Kane shook his head. “Sorry, Indra. Did you want to see our alligator? She finally has a name- Aphrodite.”

“Let me guess,” Indra drawled, glancing at Bellamy. “Bellamy got to choose the name.”

Bellamy grinned. “It’s a good name!”

Indra rolled her eyes, letting Kane steer her down the path. “I like your sister better. She would have swam with tigers.”

“Did she actually swim with Cassie?” Clarke asked quietly. 

Bellamy nodded. “Kane has a picture in his office of him, Indra, and Nyko in the tiger fountain with Cassie and an old tiger, Taj, like five feet away. The zoo used to be crazy.”

 

“She was banned from the zoo grounds for a while, you know,” Monty mentioned the next day when Clarke brought up Indra. “Our former owner put her on a no trespassing list.”

“Dante Wallace?” Clarke asked. “Why? Wasn’t he kind of a pushover?”

“Yeah,” Monty said. “He didn’t care much for the animals and was more concerned with our image. His son was awful- he’s the real reason that the board of directors basically pushed the Wallace’s out of power. But Indra is a pretty tough person and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Dante got tired of that, so he fired her and said she was banned from the zoo grounds.”

“Damn,” Clarke breathed. “What did she say?”

“She told him off for putting a sick deer in an enclosure too small for its comfort in favor of giving a larger enclosure to the porcupines,” Kane replied, looking up from the filing cabinet he’d been digging through. “Indra told him he was being an image-obsessed asshole who cared more about press coverage than the animals in our care. He fired her and told her she couldn’t even come on zoo grounds. But he did move the deer back. Her no trespass order was revoked as soon as we got him off the board.”

“So she’s a complete badass?” Clarke asked. 

“Yep,” Kane answered, pulling out the file he’d been looking for. “I’ve tried convincing her to come back to work here, but she actually likes teaching. God knows why, I can barely handle the field trips that come through every few days.”

“Wait until April,” Monty said absently. “We have at least three field trips booked every weekday.”

Kane shuddered. “I’m going to be sick all of April. I’m heading back to my office, radio me when the woman with the prairie dog gets here.”

 

“But is she actually that cool?” Clarke asked again that Friday night when everyone got together to watch movies at the apartment Bellamy and Miller shared. “Or are these just stories you’re all sticking to as some weird prank?”

“She is really that cool,” Octavia said, flipping her braid back over her shoulder. “She’s awesome. I want to be her. She knows how to actually use a sword, Clarke! And she used to own a peacock and go on camping trips with it. She showed me a picture one time of her in a kayak and this freaking peacock just hanging out on the front of it as she rowed. So cool.”

“Indra’s a fucking legend,” Monroe agreed. “She worked with the big cats and the primates and some of them still remember her. They go crazy when they see her during visits.”

“It’s not a prank,” Raven assured her. “No way could we make this woman up.”

Clarke shook her head as the movie started, settling down next to Bellamy in the corner of the couch.


End file.
